


Surprise Gifts

by RosalindInPants



Category: The Great Library Series - Rachel Caine
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Gift Exchange, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:42:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27860026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosalindInPants/pseuds/RosalindInPants
Summary: Christopher Wolfe doesn't celebrate Christmas, but his new Italian boyfriend does, and that means he needs to surprise Niccolo Santi with a gift.He doesn't expect to get one in return. After all, Christmas isn't his holiday.
Relationships: Niccolo Santi/Christopher Wolfe
Kudos: 5





	Surprise Gifts

**Author's Note:**

> Reposted from Tumblr: https://rosalind-of-arden.tumblr.com/post/189842439149/a-bit-of-young-wolfesanti-fluff

**December 24, 2010**

Niccolo Santi was halfway through a letter to his family when the knock came at his barracks room door. He glanced at the clock on the wall; still too early for any of his fellow soldiers to be coming by on their way to dinner. He rose from his desk, walked the two steps across his narrow room to the door, and opened it to find Christopher Wolfe standing there with a box wrapped in a square of red silk and a green ribbon.

“Chris?” he asked, “What brings you here?” The package couldn’t be what it looked like. Chris was a pagan. Not even the sort of pagan that celebrated winter holidays with gift giving. None of the many festivals on the Egyptian calendar involved the exchange of gifts, from what Nic had read.

Christopher held out the box. “For you, Nic. Merry Christmas,” he said in Italian with a little smile on his face.

Nic took the box, marveling at the neatly done wrapping, the festive colors. “Thank you. Your accent’s getting better.”

“Of course it is, my dear. The inevitable result of sufficient practice,” Chris said. His vocabulary was clearly improving, too. “Go on, open it.”

Nic untied the ribbon and removed the cloth, revealing a plain wooden box, which he opened to find a silver bookmark nestled in more red fabric. Designed to clip onto the edge of a page, it was engraved with the outline of the Moscow Serapeum. He stared at it for a moment, uncertain of what to say.

Chris shifted from one foot to the other, watching him. “I thought it might be of use. If nothing else, it will bring a bit of beauty to those horrid novels you so enjoy.”

Keeping the bookmark in his hand, Nic set the box and its wrappings down, freeing an arm to wrap around Chris and pull him in for a kiss. “Thank you,” he said when their lips parted. “It’s perfect.”

* * *

**December 25, 2010**

Christopher Wolfe was so deep in his research that he didn’t even hear the door of his office open. He nearly jumped out of his skin at the touch of a hand on his shoulder, and whirled around to see Nic standing behind him.

“Is this a bad time, Chris?” Nic asked. He had a box in his other hand, plain wood with a black velvet ribbon around it.

Chris composed himself. “No, not at all.” He eyed the box. “You know I don’t celebrate your Christian holiday, do you not?”

Nic raised an eyebrow. “Then what was that about yesterday?”

“ _You_ celebrate it. Speaking of which, don’t you have celebrations to attend?”

“Christmas dinner at the barracks was yesterday, and Mass is already over,” Nic said and held out the box. “You misunderstand the purpose of the tradition,” he went on, “The most important part is not to receive, but to give.”

Chris took the box. The ribbon came undone easily, and he lifted the lid to find a small bottle of vodka and two shot glasses. There was a tightness in his throat at the sight of them, a feeling in his chest he couldn’t give words to. “Thank you,” he said, though that felt woefully inadequate. Gifts weren’t a thing he was accustomed to receiving.

Nic smiled. “I’m sorry I didn’t have this wrapped for you yesterday. I’ll admit I was a bit too surprised to think to give it to you then.”

“I had the day wrong, then?”

“No, not at all. Before the holiday is good. You had no way of knowing I would be available today.” Nic smiled again, laughed. “I thought I was going to surprise you with this today, but you surprised me first.”

“Best get used to that,” Chris said, returning the smile. He lifted the bottle of vodka from the box. “Care to help me drink this?”

“Certainly,” Nic said.

The vodka didn’t last the day.


End file.
